


in the house of yesteryear

by marshmallownose



Category: House of Anubis
Genre: 17 year olds, 1932 setting, Gen, Kid fic?, POV Third Person, POV Victor, Pre-Canon, allusions to future canon, technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24965899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marshmallownose/pseuds/marshmallownose
Summary: every tragedy has a beginning and an end, but the moments in the middle are often forgotten whether they be bitter or sweet.this is a moment in time.
Relationships: Rufus Zeno & Sarah Frobisher-Smythe, Sarah Frobisher-Smythe & Victor Rodenmaar Jr., Victor Rodenmaar Jr. & Rufus Zeno
Comments: 6
Kudos: 4
Collections: HoA Gift Exchange 2020





	in the house of yesteryear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@ron-stepupable on tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40ron-stepupable+on+tumblr).



> For the Sibuna Secret Santa, written for the prompt of "Victor/Sarah/Rufus content."
> 
> I hope you like it! These characters—especially when they're young—are so interesting, yet so hard to write for, particularly in a one-shot like this. I didn't want it to be too light-hearted because these characters are all very complicated (especially Rufus).
> 
> I might write a full length fic about Sarah and the gang once I finish my S3 AU tho, so if that's something that interest you, lmk!

Victor sat sullenly on the porch steps, digging his toe into the stony path that lead away from the house. Sarah, on the other hand, sat by the stone wall, looking out into the tree-line; her back was to him, staring unwaveringly at the path that led into the woods. She never once looked his way.

His father had disappeared into the cellar again. Victor wasn’t allowed down when he was on one of his missions, and one of these days he wondered if his father might just never come back up at all.

Still, he couldn’t help but be a little glad his father was sealing himself away down there while Isabel and Gustav Zeno visited Anubis House. It certainly allowed him to be around Sarah without feeling as though he had to harass her for whatever truth that she'd been hiding so well.

Back before Louisa died and Robert got himself into trouble, when he, Sarah, and Rufus were maybe five or six, the Zeno family’s visits were marked by shrieking laughter and tumbling around in the garden. Now, though, it heralded only tense, frustrating silence.

It felt wrong that Victor and his father were living in Anubis House while Sarah was living with the Zenos. As much as Victor resented her for withholding the one thing that would make his father love him, it was _her_ house.

Gustav and Isabel had made themselves some tea in the kitchen, treating the time they were visiting like the summer holiday that to them it was. Rufus was probably unpacking in one of the bedrooms downstairs.

“What are you sitting out here sulking for?” Or perhaps he was not.

“I’m not sulking,” snapped Victor, craning his neck to look at Rufus who was leaning in the doorframe that lead inside.

The other seventeen year old boy just smirked. “Okay, so brooding then,” he replied, pushing himself forward and sitting on the steps beside Victor. “Do you always have to be so moody when we come to visit? You’d think we were cursed.”

“Maybe you are,” Victor grumbled, scowling at Sarah’s back. She still hadn’t moved. _“She_ certainly is.”

Rufus punched his arm— _hard_ —and Victor grimaced. “That’s my sister you’re talking about,” he said warningly. “I know your dad is on your back, and I get it. But don’t you understand that you’re being a total pillock to her?”

Victor snorted, still rubbing his arm. “First of all, she’s not even your real sister,” he retorted, “and second, of course I know that. But she’s the Paragon, and my father needs her and her information to…do what he needs to do.”

Rufus rolled his eyes. “I understand that, Victor.” Victor had never liked the way his friend said his name. “I’m even intrigued by what your father is working on, but it's my job to look out for her. You don’t have to be like this. There’s another way.”

Victor looked at Rufus grimly for a long time and Rufus stared right back. Eventually, though, it was Rufus who looked away. “Nevermind that,” he said quietly. “Let’s go for a walk by the Library, yeah?”

Victor coughed suddenly. “You mean, all three of us?”

Rufus stood up and brushed off the seat of his trousers. “Of course I mean the three of us. I’m not going on a Sunday stroll with just you.”

Victor cut a nervous place back at Sarah’s unmoving figure. “I’d really rather not.”

“She’s not going to bite you. Man up!”

Rufus hauled Victor to his feet, and Victor scowled at his friend. Rufus merely rolled his eyes. _“C’mon,”_ he said, dragging Victor by the arm he’d only just punched a moment ago over to where Sarah was.

She sat in the grass, with her white dress spread out around her and the sun hitting her dark blonde hair in a way that made it appear like spun gold. She didn’t look like a teenager in 1932, but instead like the ethereal being she almost was. As Victor took her in, he noticed she was staring wide-eyed at nothing, barely breathing, and for a moment, Victor wondered if she’d died sitting up.

Relief flooded him when Rufus touched her arm and she jolted with a small shout. “Don’t startle me like that!” she yelped, reaching out to smack Rufus’ arms away.

Rufus laughed, trying to poke her some more as she fought back valiantly. “Come on, Moony! You, me, and Victor are going on a walk.”

Sarah suddenly stopped and noticed Victor standing there for the first time. To her credit she didn’t run away or give him the cold shoulder, but her eyes did grow wider and her expression closed off. “Who said?” Sarah asked petulantly, snapping her eyes back to her adopted brother.

“I did,” Rufus said plainly, but his grin was challenging.

“Well, I’m older than both of you, and I say no,” said Sarah, trying and failing to sound prim.

Rufus shot Victor a conspiratorial look and promptly scooped her up bridal style, Sarah shrieking in surprise. “Well, I’m _stronger_ than you, and I say yes!”

“RUFUS!” Sarah shouted, but her tone had gone playful. “VICTOR, HELP! I’M BEING KIDNAPPED!”

Victor hesitated for a moment, but Rufus jerked his head at him to play along. Probably figured it would be good for him or something. With a put-upon sigh, he leapt forward and tackled Rufus’ legs, sending all three of them sprawling on the lawn.

“Like _Rufus_ could kidnap anyone,” he snorted once he was flat on his back. Rufus elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

“Oh, yeah? I bet I could if I wanted to!”

  
  
Sarah rolled over onto her stomach and looked at them with her big blue eyes. “I seriously hope you two aren’t arguing about your skill at abducting people.”

“Not my skills, just Rufus’,” Victor pointed out, and Rufus elbowed him again. “Hey, cut that out!”

Rufus grinned at him innocently and got to his knees, just looking between the two of them. Something in his expression changed. “I wish it could be like this forever,” he said, still smiling, though there was a tinge of melancholy coloring it. “All of us, young and happy.”

A thick silence fell over them, and Victor knew immediately that the fun was over. He looked at Rufus, trying to parse out why he'd say such a loaded statement when only a few minutes before he'd practically walloped Victor for talking about it, but he didn't look contrite in the slightest.

“Well,” Sarah said, standing abruptly, and Victor noticed the grass stains on her dress, “everyone grows up”—she glanced over at Victor, and the laughter was gone from her eyes—“and everyone dies.” Sarah sighed through her nose. “Rufus, I _really_ don’t want to go on a walk today.”

Rufus nodded. “I know, Moony,” he said quietly

Sarah sighed again, sharper this time. “Alright. Good afternoon, gentlemen,” she said, and marched herself back to the house.

Victor and Rufus watched her go. “Why’d you say that?” asked Victor, not looking at his friend.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rufus shrug. “It’s the truth,” he replied. “That’s what _I_ want.”

And Victor didn’t doubt it for a second.


End file.
